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14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
BALADEVA
Balarama as the elder brother of Krishna. Peace loving elder to killer Krishna.
Balarama ( Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha) is the elder brother of Krishna. Most South Indian Hindu traditions and many branches of Vaishnavism regard Balarama as being the ninth avatar of Vishnu. In either tradition, Balarama is acknowledged as being a manifestation of Shesha, the divine serpent on whom Vishnu rests. The Sesa - the eternal Serpent is the adhara-sakti (supporter-power) and form the bedstead of Visnu.and is in the category of God (Visnu-tattva). It is difficult to say whether Sesha or Vishnu are more primal. At any rate Sesa the globes is considered as avesaAvatara (absorption-avatara) of Krsna (or Sankarsana)
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